Jacqueline Fernandez: The Bollywood actress caught up in a 'gifts scandal'

A tribunal successful India has granted bail to Bollywood histrion Jacqueline Fernandez successful a lawsuit of wealth laundering.

The 37-year-old histrion is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Indian authorities bureau that investigates fiscal crimes.

It has accused her of fiscal misdemeanour and wants her successful custody.

Fernandez' lawyer Prashant Patil denies the charges and insists determination is nary ineligible lawsuit against her.

The lawsuit has made headlines successful India due to the fact that of the personage presumption of Fernandez.

A Sri Lankan quality pageant victor and model, she debuted successful Bollywood successful 2009 and has established herself arsenic a fashionable actress.

Film critics often trash her acting abilities, but Fernandez has been paired with immoderate of the industry's biggest stars, including Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan, and starred successful immoderate hits.

She has participated successful signifier shows successful India and overseas alongside superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra and worked arsenic a justice connected a fashionable creation world show.

A personage endorser for respective large brands, the histrion is routinely recovered successful media lists of "most desirable" women, "the world's sexiest Asian women" and the "most fashionable Indian celebrities".

But since past year, she has been embroiled successful an unseemly contention involving an alleged conman, details of costly gifts she's received from him, and accusations of wealth laundering against her.

ED officials person called her for questioning connected respective occasions, filed charges against her successful tribunal and were pitching to apprehension her. But connected Tuesday, a Delhi tribunal ruled successful her favour and allowed her bail.

The lawsuit centres astir her narration with Sukesh Chandrasekhar - a 32-year-old antheral accused of extortion by respective radical and described by the authorities and Indian property arsenic a "conman".

According to tribunal documents, Chandrashekhar, who's been successful situation since 2018 successful transportation with different cases, was named successful a caller ailment successful August past twelvemonth wherever helium was accused of extorting a concern household of 2bn rupees ($24.6m; £20.9m) successful 2020. His lawyer Ashok K Singh has denied each the charges against his lawsuit and said that "he has been framed".

While investigating this case, officials accidental they recovered that betwixt February and August past year, Chandrasekhar had lavished Jaqueline Fernandez with gifts worthy 71.2m rupees which included decorator handbags, clothes, jewellery, a horse, cars for her siblings and parents, properties and currency payments.

Fernandez does not contradict the gifts but Mr Patil, her lawyer, says that she is besides "a victim" of an elaborate crime.

According to tribunal papers, Chandrashekhar archetypal approached Fernandez successful December 2020 done Pinky Irani - a pistillate who was arrested a twelvemonth aft that for her connections with the alleged conman and freed connected bail aboriginal - but the histrion did not amusement immoderate involvement successful him then.

She archetypal spoke to him astatine the extremity of January 2021 aft her unit received a telephone from what they believed was the Indian location ministry saying that the histrion should talk to Chandrashekhar arsenic helium was an important official. Investigators accidental this was a "spoof call" which showed Chandrashekhar's fig arsenic belonging to the location ministry.

Fernandez says helium told her that helium was the scion of a apical governmental household from the confederate authorities of Tamil Nadu, that helium owned a well-known quality TV transmission and a large jewellery steadfast and that helium was funny successful producing a task for a streaming work with her arsenic the lead.

She met him doubly successful the confederate metropolis of Chennai erstwhile helium was retired connected parole to be his uncle's funeral.

Mr Patil insists that Fernandez had nary thought that helium was successful jailhouse due to the fact that helium was connected video calls with her each the clip - prisoners bash not person unfettered entree to phones - and had sent her videos of himself travelling successful backstage jets.

Mr Patil denies that Fernandez was dating Chandrasekhar. "This was the signifier earlier that, helium was chasing her and was calling her parents and siblings and buying them costly presents successful a bid to impressment them. She was considering him."

According to tribunal documents, helium had talented her a diamond ringing from Tiffany with their initials inscribed connected it and projected to her.

In January, aft intimate photographs of the mates went viral connected societal media, Fernandez posted connected Instagram, appealing to her fans, friends and media to not intrude into her idiosyncratic space.

Officials accidental that Fernandez knew aboriginal connected successful the narration who Chandrasekhar was due to the fact that her unit had sent her articles astir his alleged transgression activities connected 12 February past year.

But the histrion says she believed Ms Irani's mentation - that "she had known Chandrasekhar for 13 years, that helium was from a precise bully household and the property articles were fake quality promoted by his governmental rivals" - and re-established interaction with him a fewer days later. She says she broke disconnected with him successful August past twelvemonth aft she saw quality of him being re-arrested by constabulary portion successful jail.

But officials accidental that she "conveniently overlooked his alleged transgression past and continued to judge presents from him which means that she was receiving proceeds of crime".

They besides impeach her of withholding information, misleading them and deleting messages from her telephone that could person been utilized arsenic grounds successful the case.

Mr Patil says Fernandez deleted the messages she had shared with Chandrasekhar "because you tin recognize the trauma she went done erstwhile she discovered that helium was a conman".

"These were backstage communications of a personage and determination were pictures that she didn't privation radical to see. You can't spell aft her idiosyncratic photographs. You person to support the dignity of a woman."

Fernandez is "a unfortunate of lies conscionable similar the others that Mr Chandrasekhar is alleged to person conned", Mr Patil says, adding that accusations of wealth laundering oregon that she took proceeds of transgression are improbable to instrumentality against his client.

"The Supreme Court says that cognition of transgression is key. But Jacqueline wasn't alert of Chandrasekhar's engagement successful immoderate crime. Maybe you tin question her and accidental what she did was morally wrong, but tin you says it's legally wrong?

"The lawsuit has nary merit. I deliberation she would get justness from the court," helium adds.

Additional reporting by BBC's Suchitra K Mohanty